SERVICE.--Duty at Washington,
D.C., until June 20, 1862. Moved to Manassas Junction, Va., and
guard Orange & Alexandria Railroad until August. Moved to
Bristoe, thence to Alexandria, and picket north bank Potomac from
Chain Bridge to Edward's Ferry until September. Maryland Campaign
September-October. Frederick, Md., September 12. Battle of Antietam,
Md., September 16-17. Assigned to duty on line of the Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad, Headquarters at Sir John!s Run and Bath.
Martinsburg, W. Va., November 6. Moorefield November 9. Newtown
November 24. Kearneysville December 26. Bunker Hill January 1,
1863. Near Smithfield and Charlestown February 12. MillWood Road
near Winchester April 8. Reconnaissance from Winchester to Wardensville
and Strasburg April 20. Operations in Shenandoah Valley April
22-29. Strasburg Road, Fisher's Hill, April 22. Scout to Strasburg
April 25-30. Cedarville and Winchester June 12. Winchester June
13-15. McConnellsburg, Pa., June 24 Cunningham's Cross Roads July
5. Greencastle, Pa., July 5 (Detachment). Near Clear Springs,
Md., July 10. Moved to Sharpsburg, Md., thence to Martinsburg
August 3, and duty there until July, 1864. Jeffersonton, Va.,
October 10, 1863. Near Winchester February 5, 1864. Middletown
February 6. Winchester April 26. Affair in Loudoun County June
9 (Detachment). Charlestown and Duffield Station June 29, Bolivar
Heights July 2. Near Hillsboro July 15-16. Charlestown July 17.
Snicker's Ferry July 17-18. Ashby's Gap and Berry's Ford July
19. Near Kernstown July 23. Winchester July 24. Bunker Hill and
Martinsburg July 25. Cherry Run July 28. Winchester July 29. Guard
and garrison duty at Charlestown, covering railroad from Harper's
Ferry to Winchester until March, 1865. Charlestown September 27,
1864. Halltown November 12. Mount Zion Church November 12. Newtown
November 24. Charlestown November 29 (Detachment). Affair at Harper's
Ferry February 3, 1865 (Detachment). Scout from Harper's Ferry
into Loudoun County March 20-23. Near Hamilton March 21. Goose
Creek March 23. Duty at Winchester and in the Shenandoah Valley
until July. Mustered out July 20, 1865.

Regiment lost during service
2 Officers and 32 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and
1 Officer and 107 Enlisted men by disease. Total 142.

On the 5th of November, 1861, William Frishmuth, a citizen of
Philadelphia, received authority from President Lincoln, confirmed by Governor
Curtin, to raise a cavalry regiment. The camp of rendezvous, designated Camp
M'Reynolds, was near the junction of Ridge Road and Columbia Avenue, in the city
of Philadelphia. The original men were principally from the counties of
Crawford, Warren, Erie, Northampton, Lancaster, Juniata, Mifflin, Dauphin,
Blair, Cambria, and the city of Philadelphia, though it embraced before the
close of its term of service, members from nearly half of the counties of the
Commonwealth. The regiment was organized in November, by the choice of the
following field officers: William Frishmuth, Colonel Lewis B. Pierce, of
Bradford county, Lieutenant Colonel; Jacob Kohler, of Philadelphia, Darius
Titus, of Warren, and James A. Congdon, of Harrisburg, Majors.

1862

On the 20th of April, 1862, and before leaving camp for the field, Colonel
Frishmuth resigned; whereupon, Lieutenant Colonel Pierce was made Colonel, Major
Kohler, Lieutenant Colonel, and Captain William Bell, of Juniata county, Major.
Soon afterwards, the regiment proceeded to Washington, where it received arms,
and remained in camp until the 20th of June, when it was ordered to Manassas
Junction, and was employed in guarding the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. It
was past the middle of July before the command was mounted, and little progress
had been made in training and discipline, before active operations commenced.

At mid-day, of 12th of August, Colonel Pierce received a telegram from General
Sturgis, at Alexandria, acting under the direction of General Pope, then in
command of the Union army in northern Virginia, directing him to proceed to
White Plains, and ascertain the strength and position of the enemy in that
locality. Colonel Pierce, who was in a feeble state of health, and in the
absence of Lieutenant Colonel Kohler, placed the regiment under command of Major
Titus. The regiment was scattered along the road, a distance of twelve miles, on
guard, and it was six o'clock before the forces could be assembled, and in
readiness to start. Darkness soon came on, and being without reliable guides,
and having a distance of twenty miles to traverse, in an enemy's country, some
difficulty was experienced in keeping the direct route. Company G, was left at
Pope's Run, and a battery of two pieces, at Manassas. In the neighborhood of
Gainesville, a rebel picket was captured, who disclosed the fact that half the
rebel army was in its immediate front, Jackson having turned the right of Pope's
Army his advance guard having already reached Manassas Junction.

Soon, firing heard at Manassas, and a great light, showed but too plainly that
the enemy was already in possession. Without stopping for rest, the column
retired towards Bristoe; but as it approached the town, found it already in
possession of Jackson, with his artillery and infantry in commanding positions.
To escape the enemy's clutches, seemed impossible; but determined to cut his way
through, or sell his command at severe rebel cost, Major Titus turned toward
Manassas. Discovering his designs, the enemy opened with his artillery and
infantry, and closing in upon it, inflicted a loss of two hundred and sixty, in
killed, wounded, and prisoners--Major Titus being among the latter.

The command now devolved on Major Congdon, who withdrew his shattered column to
Centreville. He was immediately ordered to retire to Alexandria, where he
reported to General M'Clellan, in person, giving the first reliable intelligence
of the presence of Jackson, at Manassas.

On the following day, the regiment was ordered to cross the Potomac, and patrol
and picket the north bank of the river, from Chain Bridge, to Edwards' Ferry, in
which duty it continued until the enemy crossed above, to enter upon the
Antietam campaign. In the meantime, drill and discipline were studiously
prosecuted.

Upon the advance of the Union army into Maryland, Major Congdon joined the
cavalry division under General Pleasanton, and took the advance. In the
engagement at South Mountain, the regiment was assigned to duty with the corps
of General Sumner, and was held in reserve. On the evening previous to the
battle of Antietam, two squadrons, under command of Captains Hartman and Linton,
were ordered to scour the country in the direction of Hagerstown. At a point two
miles beyond Boonsboro, a party of the enemy was met, and some prisoners were
taken.

On the day of the battle, the regiment was deployed in rear of the right and
centre of the army, and was active in bringing up stragglers, and in checking
disorder. On the day following the battle, the regiment was ordered to move by
the right of the rebel army, on a reconnaissance. Though suffering from fatigue
and privation, it moved without a murmur. At Harper's Ferry, a few paroled
prisoners were met, from Colonel Miles' command, and the fact ascertained that
the enemy was retreating. Hastily retracing his steps, Major Congdon arrived at
headquarters, at eleven A. M., and reported the withdrawal to General
Pleasanton, who at once conveyed the intelligence to the commanding general.

On the 25th of September, the regiment was brigaded with the First New York
Cavalry, under command of Colonel Andrew T. M'Reynolds, and assigned to duty on
the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, with headquarters at Sir John's
Run, and at Bath. It participated in the raid made by General Elliott to
Moorefield, in which some prisoners were taken, and upon its return, joined the
Thirteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Colonel Galligher, in an expedition to
Woodstock, encountering the enemy at Fisher's Hill, and sustaining considerable
loss. With the aid of a portion of the Eighty-seventh infantry, the enemy was
driven, and the dead and wounded in the encounter were brought off.

1863

So stealthily did Lee move from his camps on the Rapidan, in his march to
Pennsylvania, in 1863, that he reached the Shenandoah Valley, and approached the
front of Milroy, in command at Winchester, without being discovered, or his
approach being suspected.

On Friday, the 12th of June, two reconnoitering parties were sent out, the one
on the Strasburg, the other on the Front Royal Road, to discover if there was
any augmentation of force beyond the usual cavalry strength. That on the Front
Royal Road was headed by the Twelfth Cavalry, four hundred strong, under command
of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph L. Moss, who had succeeded Lieutenant Colonel
Kohler. At Cedarville, a point twelve miles out from Winchester, Colonel Moss
encountered a heavy force of the enemy, composed of infantry, cavalry, and
artillery, He immediately returned, and reported the facts at headquarters,
which were discredited.

"The report was discredited, says General Milroy, in his official report, "by
myself and by General Elliott, my second in command. I deemed it impossible that
Lee's Army, with its immense artillery and baggage trains, could have escaped
from the Army of the Potomac, and crossed the Blue Ridge." "This delusion was
soon dissipated, and the correctness of the report made apparent, by the advance
of Lee's Army on all the roads leading from the south.

Soon afterward, a force under Colonel Ely, consisting of the Twelfth
Pennsylvania Cavalry, the Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania, Eighteenth Connecticut,
and Fifth Maryland Infantry, and a section of Battery L, Fifth Artillery, was
again sent forward on the Strasburg Road, and a mile out encountered the enemy
with a battery posted in a wood to the right of the Front Royal Road, where a
light artillery skirmish ensued. Retiring to the junction of the two roads, to
prevent being flanked, Colonel Ely took position, where he remained unmolested
during the day, with the exception of the occasional advance of detachments of
rebel cavalry, which was easily repulsed.

At evening, Colonel Ely retired his forces behind the Creek and Race, which
cross the Strasburg and Front Royal Roads, and which afforded some protection.
The enemy followed in two lines, as if to attack, but was thrown into confusion
by a rapid fire of artillery opened upon him from Carlin's Battery, stationed on
the southern extremity of Apple-pie Ridge. The enemy's skirmishers now advanced,
and a brisk fire was opened on Ely's front, which was kept up during the
following day. For three days, Lee's Army was held in check by this small force
of less than twelve thousand men. The enemy refused to assault, but gradually
gathered in around the town, until nearly every way of escape was cut off.

At a council of war, held on the night of Sunday, the 14th, it was decided that
an attempt should be made by the command to cut its way out, and push for the
Potomac. Under cover of darkness, the brigades moved at a little after midnight,
in the order of their numbers. Four miles out, on the Martinsburg Road, the
enemy was encountered in strong force, and a heavy night engagement took place,
in which the Twelfth participated, sustaining considerable loss. Lieutenant
Colonel Moss had his horse shot under him, and was disabled by the fall, the
command devolving on Major Titus. Taking advantage of the noise of the contest,
the column separated, one part moving towards Harper's Ferry, the other by way
of Bath, and Hancock, to Bloody Run. The Twelfth was with the latter.

At Bloody Run the regiment was rallied, Colonel Pierce resuming command, and
advanced to M'Connellsburg, skirmishing lightly with parties of the enemy by the
way. Here it was joined by Captain Wallace, with a company of militia having a
piece of artillery, which was moved up to the mountain.

On the 5th of July, two days after the close of the battle of Gettysburg, a
detachment from the First New York Cavalry, and the Twelfth, came upon the
enemy's trains at Cunningham Cross Roads, near the Maryland border, making
captives of the guard, six hundred and forty in number, and capturing five
hundred and fifty horses and mules, one hundred and twenty-five wagons, and
three brass twelve pounders. This success was not achieved without a struggle;
Lieutenant Irwin, of company E, being among the wounded. In a subsequent
encounter near Mercersburg, sixty of the enemy were captured, and twenty-four
wagons taken.

At the close of the Gettysburg Campaign, the regiment marched to Sharpsburg,
where it remained until the 3rd of August. It then crossed the Potomac, and
moved up to the neighborhood of Martinsburg, where, with the exception of an
occasional collision with the rebel cavalry and bushwhackers, it remained
employed in the usual guard, scout, and picket duty, without serious
molestation, until the opening of the campaign of 1864. In the meantime, the
regiment had, upon the expiration of its original term of service, re-enlisted
for a second term, and proceeded in a body to Philadelphia for a veteran
furlough.

1864

On returning to the front in April, 1864, with ranks strengthened by recruits,
it resumed its duties in guarding the frontier, Colonel R. S. Rogers being in
command of the Post. In July previous, Lieutenant Colonel Moss had resigned, and
had been succeeded by Major Bell, who now had the active command of the
regiment.

Early in July, 1864, General Hunter, in command of the main Union force in the
Shenandoah Valley, having been driven from before Lynchburg, into the Kanawha
Valley, General Early, with an army of twenty thousand men, advanced rapidly
towards the Potomac, and driving Sigel, who was in command at Martinsburg,
crossed the Potomac into Maryland, on the 3d. The First Brigade of the cavalry
division under Colonel Blakely, was commanded by Colonel Bell, of the Twelfth,
and in opposing the advance of the enemy, and in harassing him on every hand,
was kept constantly engaged. In the actions at Solomon's Gap, Pleasant Valley,
and Crampton's Gap, Colonel Bell led his brigade with gallantry, in which the
Twelfth bore a prominent part.

"In Pleasant Valley, " says Blakely, " Colonel Bell held Rhodes' rebel division,
until the Second Brigade was brought some three miles to his assistance. Colonel
Bell and the Twelfth Pennsylvania Cavalry, behaved very gallantly upon this
occasion."

Early, finding only a feeble force to oppose him, drove Wallace at the Monocacy,
and approached the defenses of the City of Washington. Here he was met by the
veterans from the Petersburg front, and driven precipitately, retreating through
Snicker's Gap to Berryville. Supposing that Early was in full retreat towards
Richmond, the veterans of the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps retired to Washington,
with the design of returning to Petersburg. Thereupon, Early about-faced, and
again advanced towards Maryland. General Averell, in command of the Cavalry, met
him at Winchester, on the 20th, and gained a signal advantage, killing and
wounding three hundred, capturing two hundred prisoners, four guns, and several
hundred small arms.

But, four days later, the forces of Averell and Crooks were attacked, in turn,
and severely handled. In this engagement, Colonel Tibbits, who commanded the
Cavalry Brigade to which the Twelfth belonged, says: "At five A. M., on the 23d,
a sharp firing being heard in the direction of Kernstown, I formed the brigade
in line of battle, in front of the camp ground occupied the previous night. The
Fifteenth New York Cavalry, by order from division headquarters, I sent to
picket the Cedar Creek road. Soon, by order of the General commanding division,
the brigade moved in line of battle to the northern border of the village of
Kernstown. The Twelfth Pennsylvania Cavalry, with the exception of one squadron
on picket, was immediately thrown forward as skirmishers, dismounted. One
squadron of the Twenty-first New York Cavalry, went to the support of our
artillery, in position on a hill in rear of my brigade, and the detachment of
Cole's Maryland Cavalry was sent to support the skirmish line of the Twelfth
Pennsylvania Cavalry, which was advancing, with orders to push forward as far as
possible. Firing increasing in the front, one squadron of the Twenty-first New
York Cavalry was sent forward, as an additional support to the Twelfth, which
then succeeded in driving the enemy's skirmishers to their supports. By order of
division commander I moved the brigade through the village, formed again in
line, and then advanced, keeping the right of the road, the Twelfth in front as
skirmishers, and the detachment of Cole's Maryland Cavalry, with the squadron of
the Twenty-first New York moving in line on the left of the road." Advancing
thus about one mile, the force of the enemy was met, and some severe skirmishing
ensued. At night the brigade bivouacked upon the field, but at early morn the
battle was renewed, the enemy coming on in heavy force.

Colonel Tibbits brought all his disposable force to the support of his skirmish
line, and called loudly for reinforcements. Colonel Mulligan came up and took
position on the right and rear of the dismounted skirmishers, but in less than
twenty minutes fell back. Generals Duffie and Crook were now up, and had their
artillery and infantry in position. The cavalry was, accordingly, ordered to
fall back, and take position in rear of the infantry. This was effected in good
order, but the infantry was unable to hold out against the overpowering forces
of the enemy, and were soon retiring in considerable disorder.

Seeing this, and knowing that the ambulance train upon the pike would be
exposed, Colonel Tibbits ordered a charge by his entire brigade, and succeeded
in checking the enemy's advance. In this charge, two officers of the Twelfth
were severely wounded. Finding it impossible to hold the ground, the brigade
fell back slowly, repeatedly facing the enemy, and holding him in check, while
the army made the best of its way to Harper's Ferry. The loss in the Twelfth in
this battle was heavy, Lieutenant Milton Funk being among the killed. "The
commanding officers of the Twelfth Pennsylvania Cavalry, Lieutenant Colonel
William Bell, and the Fifteenth New York Cavalry. Lieutenant Colonel Bott," says
Colonel Tibbits, in his official report, "are deserving of much credit, for the
brave and efficient manner in which they commanded their regiments, especially
when their commands were dismounted on the skirmish line."

Upon the accession of General Sheridan to the chief command of the Army in the
Shenandoah, the Twelfth was assigned to General Torbert's Division. On the 18th
of August, Sheridan fell back to Berryville, to foil an attempt to flank him by
a force of the enemy sent up through Front Royal, and on the 21st he was
attacked near the Potomac, but held his ground. The Twelfth suffered some loss
in this engagement.

On the 8th of October, Lieutenant Colonel Bell was honorably discharged, and
Major Congdon was promoted to succeed him. The hard service of the summer months
had born heavily upon the animals of the command, whereby it had become nearly
dismounted. Some time was given to recruiting and re-mounting, and when ready
for the field, became part of General Stevenson's Brigade.

About the 1st of November, Colonel Pierce resumed command, and regimental head
quarters were established at Charlestown. In the operations in the valley during
the fall, the regiment participated, being stationed along the Blue Ridge. In an
encounter with the enemy, while advancing along a narrow road, with but two
abreast, Captain M'Allister, who had the advance, charged and carried the summit
in gallant style. On the day following, the regiment returned to camp, and
resumed its routine of guard and garrison duties.

On the 15th of December, Colonel Pierce was discharged, and Captain Marcus A.
Reno, of the First Regular Cavalry, was commissioned to succeed him. The
regiment was at that time engaged in covering and guarding the railroad, from
Harper's Ferry to Winchester, upon which duty it remained, having frequent
skirmishes, until near the middle of March. It was then sent as part of a force
under Colonel Reno, across the Blue Ridge, to break up certain guerrilla bands
known to infest that region. During the march, the regiment was frequently
engaged in skirmishing, and in the battle of Harmony, on the 22d, lost one
officer and five men killed, and two officers and seventeen men wounded,
Lieutenant Deloss Chase being among the killed. The instructions of the
commanding general having been fully executed, the command returned to its
former station.

1865

At the opening of April, the regiment marched to Winchester, where it was
incorporated with the cavalry division of the Army of the Shenandoah, to the
command of which Colonel Reno was assigned.

With this force, the Colonel was ordered to make a reconnaissance as far as
Lynchburg, but after a skirmish with the rebels at Edinboro, which was
maintained on the Union side by the Twelfth, unaided, it was learned that Lee
had surrendered, and had included in the surrender, all the troops in the Valley
of the Shenandoah. The command was accordingly placed in camp near Mount
Jackson, and charged with stopping and paroling all soldiers of Lee's Army
returning through that part of the country.

After executing this duty, the Twelfth went into camp in the vicinity of
Winchester, where it remained until the 20th of July, when it was mustered out
of service, and returned in a body to Philadelphia.

Source for history & rosters: History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers
1861-1865; prepared in Compliance With Acts of the Legislature, by Samuel P.
Bates, A Member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Volume III, Harrisburg:
B. Singerly, State Printer. 1871.